How Kenya can boost efficiency of its border crossing points

The election of Donald Trump as the President of the United States has sent a lot of cold shivers among actors in the global economy. To feed into the fears of American bureaucrats, Trump has selected Elon Musk to co-lead a newly created Department of Government Efficiency.

According to Trump, this department will pave the way for his administration to dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulation, cut wasteful expenditure, and restructure federal agencies.

Without a doubt, world-wide, government bureaucracy has made many administrations unpopular considering that the current challenges require change in the conduct of government officers. In fact, President Barack Obama once noted that “we cannot deal with the challenges of the 21st century with a 20th century bureaucracy.”

Against this background, and noting the importance of international trade in our region, we propose that governments in the region work towards promoting efficiency at the borders, especially on the movement of goods and services.

In 2016, Kenya adopted the concept of one-stop border posts (OSBP) with the aim of enhancing the efficiency of cargo and passenger movement across international boundaries. Beyond the operations of customs and immigration services, the OSBP equally serves as a point of disease control and exchange of information.

A quick assessment, which is backed up by various studies, shows that border efficiency has greatly improved. However, like all other innovations, there are new challenges that have since emerged with the adoption of an OSBP, calling for more efficiency and improvement on border efficiency.

Kenya has 35 official border crossing points, out of which seven are OSBPs. And while it’s important to acknowledge that a number of donors, working with the Kenyan government, have invested heavily on OSBP infrastructure and in capacity building efforts, the truth is that the investments have not achieved optimal results.

First, there is no clear chain of command at the OSBP. Good practice dictates the need of a lead agency, which should be backed up by a reduction of the number of cargo interveners. In June 2019, the government issued a circular that, inter alia, emphasised on the need for lead agencies at the ports of entry.

However, this circular was silent on the OSBPs and this has left a glaring gap in operations at the border, thus worsening a situation that is already bad. Take, for instance, the situation at the Busia OSBP where, on the Kenyan side, the Immigration and Customs offices are in opposite buildings.

Clearly, this is a serious design flaw where the flow of passenger and cargo traffic ordinarily follow a sequential four-step from the Customs processes, Immigration, Kenya Bureau of Standards and, finally, Security clearance. Further, this process is undertaken within the same building, with the agencies sharing operational information.

Second, the laxity by the county governments in embracing the OSBP has contributed to congestion at the OSBP considering no proper investment has been undertaken by counties in parking facilities for trucks, passenger buses and cars. Resultantly, there are instances of county governments collecting parking fees from trucks stuck in traffic as they await border clearance.

Given the above, there are numerous case studies, like the EU border integration, that Kenya can learn from to improve cross-border trade. The vision of non-stop border posts offers a transformative solution to the bottlenecks hindering trade efficiency, where low-risk cargo and passengers flow freely without unnecessary delays.

To realise this vision, advance registration and information systems must be adopted so as to enable border agencies to assess risks and prepare in advance, thus eliminating unnecessary checks for compliant traders. Automated processes and simplified operations further streamline border crossings, reducing human intervention and, with it, the risk of corruption and delays.

Further, a single window system for stakeholder efficiency is central to this approach. By integrating banks, insurance companies, and other organisations into border operations, traders can address all compliance requirements in one streamlined process. Such integration not only simplifies trade but also promotes transparency and accountability.

It’s worthy noting that preferential treatment for trusted entities, such as authorised economic operators, incentivises compliance while rewarding efficiency. Studies have shown that this approach significantly reduces time and costs for businesses with a proven track record of adhering to customs and regulatory requirements.

To achieve this, it is important to recognise the fact that cross-border agencies and EAC partner states must collaborate on regular monitoring and evaluation to ensure the system adapts to emerging challenges and continuously improves. This means that transparency and shared accountability among stakeholders are essential for sustaining progress.